Rebecca Adams of Amherst and formerly of Leesburg, Va., has been named this year’s James Lewis Howe Award recipient at Sweet Briar College. Adams will graduate in May with Bachelor of Science degrees in chemistry and mathematics.

The Howe Award is given by the Virginia Blue Ridge Section of the American Chemical Society for outstanding achievement by college seniors. The award is named in memory of a longtime professor and head of the chemistry department at Washington and Lee University in Lexington. Howe had a long and storied professional career, and is considered one of the most distinguished chemists in the Blue Ridge Section, according to its Web site.

Following graduation, Adams plans to pursue a graduate degree in chemistry. She has received a scholarship through the U.S. Department of Defense’s SMART Scholarship for Service Program, which seeks to increase civilian scientists and engineers working at the department’s laboratories.

In exchange for a fully funded master’s degree, Adams will work at the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.